Dressed in full uniform from his days with the Union's 65th U.S. Colored Infantry and rifle in hand, an aged Pvt. W. Logan Bennett dutifully attended each Founder's Day ceremony at Lincoln University.
Bennett lived in Jefferson City longer than any other founder, according to the late Lincoln historian Gossie Hudson.
And his was one of the first checks written by a soldier of the 65th to Lincoln Institute. The $10 check was dated May 10, 1866, when he was still on duty in Louisiana with Company K.
Bennett Hall was dedicated to him in 1938.
He died at age 91 in 1933. A wreath-laying tradition began about 1972 at his gravesite in the Jefferson City National Cemetery, Hudson said. In recent decades, the wreath-laying became ceremonial and observed on campus.
For the university's 150th anniversary, the wreath-laying returns today to Bennett's gravesite, following a Founder's Day Convocation at 11 a.m. at Richardson Auditorium.
Bennett is one of eight U.S. Colored Troops (USCT) buried at the National Cemetery. Another six are buried at the Old City/Woodland cemetery. Not all were members of the 62nd or 65th USCT, which founded Lincoln University.
Born Sept. 15, 1842, in Callaway County, Bennett was a servant for many years for the Joel Bennett family. As a boy he was the guardian of Jennie Bennett, who married Congressman Champ Clark, the Daily Capitol News reported. Joel Bennett of Concord had bought Logan Bennett as a child from a Mr. Ramsey, according to www.fold3.com.
Bennett enlisted at age 21 Feb. 21, 1864, at Jefferson City and was mustered into the 67th USCT, which was consolidated into the 65th in July 1865. He served three years, including at the last engagement of the war - Battle of Palmetto Ranch in May 1865.
During his service, he was sick a couple of times, recuperating at the Corps D'Afrique General Hospital in New Orleans, Louisiana. He was honorably discharged in January 1867 at Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Bennett married Josephine Jones in October 1870 and they had six children: William born 1871, Harry born 1872 and died at age 13, Joel born 1875, Martha born 1881 and Rosetta born 1890.
Josephine and their daughter, Rosetta, who graduated from Lincoln, are also both buried in the national cemetery. Rosetta married Pvt. Harvey Graves, who also is buried there.
At his death, Bennett was the oldest ordained deacon at Second Baptist Church.
The Bennetts lived in the 800 block of East Elm Street in one of four houses he owned in the area, according to the Cole County Historical Society. He supplemented his $90/month veteran's pension with rental properties and working at the National Cemetery.
When the crowd of 20,000 arrived for the opening of the new Missouri River bridge in May 1896, Bennett served as aide in the parade alongside Lincoln Institute's J.Wesly Damel, Harrison Wiseman, Grant Ramsey and Inman Page, the State Republican reported.
At that same time, Bennett also was among 25 representatives from the Capital City to the Colored Republican League of Missouri convention.
As one of the longest-surviving founders, Bennett saw the construction in 1931 of Young Hall, originally named College Hall. He addressed more than 1,000 who attended the 1931 cornerstone-laying ceremony, 65 years after the school's founding, the Post-Tribune reported.
At his death, the Daily Capital News headline read "Uncle Logan Bennett, well-known negro in capital city is dead."
Other LU founders buried here
Although the gravesite of W. Logan Bennett at the Jefferson City National Cemetery is the honorary location of the Lincoln University wreath-laying ceremony, he is not the only founder of the school buried there or next door at the Old City/Woodland cemeteries.
Pvt. Jerry Longley served with the 62nd US Colored Infantry (USCT), enlisting at age 20. He was born the slave of Thomas Longley of Callaway County. After the war, he married a woman named America, but he died in October 1867.
Pvt. Frank Bolton and his wife, Sarah, had five children before he enlisted in Jefferson City Dec. 22, 1863. They had a daughter after he returned and they farmed in Clark township until his death in 1883.
Both Longley and Bolton are buried in Old City Cemetery.
Richard Winston and James Price are buried at National Cemetery.
Winston, a corporal with the 65th, was born in Cole County in 1841 and worked as a janitor at the Capitol before dying in 1914.
Price was born in Virginia about 1835 and died in 1924. He joined the 67th and, same as Bennett, was transferred to the 65th from which he mustered out as a corporal.
Michelle Brooks for the News Tribune